When Heathrow Closed

This story makes reference to pregnancy out of wedlock and substance abuse.

When Heathrow Closed

Jenny was returning home from her European vacation. She had spent three weeks visiting the cities she’d heard about all her life, and it had been exhilarating. Her traveling companion, Liz, was staying on in London to spend a semester studying. Looking forward to seeing her parents, she was dismayed that the departures board at Heathrow kept reporting that her flight was delayed. She was concerned that she might not be home tonight and have enough time to rest up for Monday, when she was about to begin her new job. She had been so excited to be hired by an international accounting firm. It was her first real job, not including the temporary summer jobs she had worked at during every summer since she started high school. They had wanted her to start the previous week, but she had insisted on beginning the job later so that she could have a full three weeks for her European vacation. As the delay kept increasing, Jenny was grateful that she was wearing comfortable clothes: a hoodie and worn out dungarees. Her dark hair was in a ponytail, so she didn’t have to worry about how it looked.

After waiting about 3 hours for takeoff, the airline announced that they would give each passenger a 15 pound voucher to cover lunch. She was grateful for the voucher; she was running low on money. It was a long walk to find a restroom, but Jenny had been sitting for 3 hours and knew she needed to go, not knowing how much longer she would have to wait. When she entered an empty booth, she could hear a woman crying. When she was still sobbing after Jenny had finished and washed her hands, Jenny asked “Are you alright?” The woman replied “No!” in a voice that was cracking. “Can I do something for you?” Jenny asked. 

“Are you a friend of Bill’s?”  

Now Jenny was confused. “Can you come out so we can talk face to face?” 

A young woman of about 20 exited the booth. Her eyes were red and her heart shaped face looked desperate. “I’m Sally,” she said in a shaky voice. “I am a recovering alcoholic, and I need to talk to my sponsor. But I can’t reach him on the phone. I figured I could make it through the 6 hour flight to New York, and I’ve got a list of meetings in New York for tonight, but we’ve been waiting so long and now I need a drink. I’ve been sober for 6 months – I just picked up my chip yesterday – and I don’t want to ruin it now. But I really need a drink.

“I’m so sorry. My name is Jenny, and I have a friend in the program, but I don’t know how I can help you. Is there someone else you can call? Can you text your sponsor and ask him to call you?”

“That’s a great idea. He always looks at his texts. I’ll try it out.”

Sally made no move to leave the restroom, so Jenny said goodbye and left on her own.

Jenny began looking for a place to eat. There were no restaurants between the ladies room and her gate, so she went into a store selling sandwiches, salads, drinks and candy. After serious consideration, Jenny selected a roast beef sub and a diet coke. She still had a little money from the voucher, so she also bought some candy to bring home. When she got back to the gate, the only available seats were singles that had no tables attached to them, so she ended up sitting next to a family on one side and a young woman on her mobile on the other. 

Jenny, although concerned about Sally, was feeling more relaxed as she finished her sandwich. The girl on her mobile, whose blond hair fell to her shoulders, had been mostly quiet, listening to the other party, and Jenny hadn’t been eavesdropping.    But she began to raise her voice. “Well, I’ve been feeling that way too. In the morning…. I can’t remember, let me look at my calendar…. Oh no, I can’t believe it. I need to go now.” She turned to Jenny. “I have to run to the drug store. Would you mind keeping an eye on my stuff?” Jenny nodded, and asked the girl her name. “Siobhan,” she replied and moved quickly. She was gone about 15 minutes, and when she came back Jenny could see that she was fighting back tears. She thanked Jenny, and started to make a phone call, but never put it through.

It was two hours later when they heard the announcement. “I am so sorry for this inconvenience. Due to weather conditions in London as well as strikes, Heathrow Airport is closed as of now, and no flights will be leaving or arriving for the rest of the day.” Knowledgable passengers jumped up and ran to the British Airways customer service desk to try to rebook their flights. Jenny asked Siobhan if she knew what to do. She replied that they should probably get in the BA queue. They walked as quickly as they could, considering the crowds of passengers going to the exact same place.

The queue in front of Jenny and Siobhan was long.  The children of the family in front of them were whining and complaining about being bored. The mother was saying what an exciting experience this was for all of them, while the dad gave her an indignant look.

A good looking man in his twenties was talking on his mobile. “Look, I’m really sorry I won’t be there, but it’s not my fault. All flights have been cancelled. There’s no way I’ll be back in time for the wedding . . . Why don’t you ask Tommy, or your brother?” After a few minutes he said “You’re expecting me to clairvoyant. How could I know this was going to happen?” And finally: “Look, I said I was sorry. I don’t want this to get in the way of our friendship, but . . .” He hung up.

There was a middle aged couple behind Jenny and Siobhan, and the woman was sobbing. “We should never have come on this trip. We may not make it in time to see my mother. She was doing so well when we left. Why does this always happen to me?” Her husband put his arms around her and hugged her. “Leah, there’s still plenty of time. If we can leave on a flight tomorrow or Sunday, we may be there in time. Don’t be so gloomy. You have been a great daughter to her, visiting her every day and taking the time to read to her, bringing her food. She already knows how much you love her.” Leah stepped away and spat “This is not for her, it’s for me! Why can’t you see that?”

Jenny turned to Siobhan, and whispered ,“I have been so concerned that I won’t be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on my first day of a new job. I was thinking how unprofessional it would look and I’ve been blaming myself for making a poor first impression. But listening to the other people here I am beginning to realize how easy I have it. Sure, it won’t look good for me to be tired on my first day, or even absent, but it’s not a life or death situation.”

Siobhan whispered back. “None of these people have life or death situations. They may not get what they want, but it’s really just an inconvenience. My situation is life or death."

Jenny hesitated to respond; she didn’t want to intrude. Then she asked “How is your situation life or death?”

Siobhan lowered her voice a little further. “I’ve been seeing a married man. Of course, I didn’t know he was married when I started dating him; if I had, I would never have started the relationship. I finally broke up with him a couple of months ago.  And now I  realize that I’ve missed my period; I was never that regular anyway. I just bought a pregnancy test and it was positive. I have no idea what I’m going to do. My mother will kill me when she finds out; she lives in Dublin and she’s a devout Catholic. She’s dead set against sex before marriage, and her religion tells her that abortion is a sin.  What will I do? My company is really conservative; they might fire me. How can I raise a child? Should I go back to the father? There’s nothing he can do. Go to my Mom in Ireland?  Since the flight is cancelled, maybe I should get an abortion before I leave. I just can’t believe this is happening to me.”